Has anyone used an Ikea slatted base under their mattress to help eliminate moisture buildup. Understand people are using this on boats w/success.

Herb

Herb, I bought one (but from WalMart) and it's still in the box! I bought an Ikea twin bed foam mattress and was told it absolutely needed to be ventilated to prevent moisture buildup. That's why I made the purchase. BUT, I haven't gone camping since then and Ten Forward isn't stored at home. Before I go out, I'll definitely be putting the bed together. The one I purchased as legs, I'll also be cutting the legs shorter. I'll have under bed loft storage just like the big guys.

Just another idea for those looking to eliminate moisture under the bed.

On the 5.0TA ETI has carpeting under the bed in the loft. Camping in all types of weather and humidity we've not noticed any moisture other then at the head of the bed where the mattress is up against the front wall. Granted I don't check it very often, but when I have it's been dry.

No Bob, not any appreciable moisture. However, I don't think the carpet offers any real ventilation. It compresses pretty easily. It doesn't look like I'm going to be able to try out the slat bed until April, the next time I'm scheduled to going camping... sigh.

Has anyone used an Ikea slatted base under their mattress to help eliminate moisture buildup. Understand people are using this on boats w/success.

Herb

Herb, We got the IKEA slatted base, not for moisture, but for comfort. The 2" of air circulation under the mattress is an unintended benefit. The ETI mattress is very good quality, but a little hard under our hips for multi-day camping. The slatted base gives noticeably, much like a full size box spring mattress. We love it! and so do our hips!!

We've experienced them condensation issues but have mostly put up with it.

When I read your comment that the IKEA slatted base makes a night's sleep more comfortable, Steve, that got my attention. I like a firm mattress but will put up with anything that grants DearOne a better night's sleep. Nearest IKEA to us is a full day trip away so I ordered the slatted base and it came last week.

Assembly instructions are not in Swedish. Or any language. Just 8 pages of pictures planned by an alternative logician. Maybe a Swedish mime. Also, they provided an Allen wrench made of cheap soft metal that stripped easily. Today, after a two day wrassling-assembly match, I got it all done.

Pictures will follow, probably after lunch today.

__________________Myron"A billion here, a billion there...add it all up and before you know it you're talking real money."Everett Dirkson

We've experienced them condensation issues but have mostly put up with it.

When I read your comment that the IKEA slatted base makes a night's sleep more comfortable, Steve, that got my attention. I like a firm mattress but will put up with anything that grants DearOne a better night's sleep. Nearest IKEA to us is a full day trip away so I ordered the slatted base and it came last week.

Assembly instructions are not in Swedish. Or any language. Just 8 pages of pictures planned by an alternative logician. Maybe a Swedish mime. Also, they provided an Allen wrench made of cheap soft metal that stripped easily. Today, after a two day wrassling-assembly match, I got it all done.

Pictures will follow, probably after lunch today.

Myron, You describe the IKEA instructions perfectly, but somehow, easy to follow! The first 60 years of my life, the firmer/harder the bed, the better. But, for the past few years I prefer a little supportive 'give' under my hips. We find the slatted base a perfect solution and the next best thing to a Select Comfort. I hope you find the same!

Well I don't know how I missed Ron's posting on this subject, with pictures of his install, from early January. (Could be I forgot I saw it.) Ron's in the Baja right now probably in his kayak, sipping daiquiris. I will be comparing notes with him at Quartzsite next month .

Meanwhile, my IKEA slat install is still a work in progress. There have been a few glitches.

I must be losing it. Beginning to think a senior rule is, once you’re past a certain benchmark in life the more you are likely damned to re-learn the obvious.

First, eager and impatient, I failed to correctly interpret the IKEA step-by-step assembly protocol. Them instructional drawings just looked too arcane. What’s so hard about screwing wood together anyway?

So doing the assembly I failed to include the part where you thread the black support strapping through the slats. Not a big mistake except the provided cheapo Allen wrench and screws stripped too easily making a simple task too testy. Threading them slats was a juggling act unfriendly to septuagenarian hands. Assembly is best done on the living room floor, where at the very least you’re working in a warm room. Only trouble there was fending off a curious pup, (she chewed a corner when I wasn’t looking) and stiff joints.

Slat unit number one is now assembled, and dropped into place on the bed platform. Perfect. My next mistake was assuming the second slat unit would also drop right in. Wrong. Slat unit number two needs corners indented to accommodate the rounded trailer corners or it will not drop right in. I go look at Ron’s pictures. See that? He cut the frame down at the corners and added right-angled bracing to secure the shortened corner slats to the rubber seats.

The trailer bed platform is the width of a Queen sized mattress. The IKEA LöNSET unit is built for a Queen sized mattress. What I didn’t do for slat unit number two is measure the drop-in width to the back wall from installed slat unit number one, before dragging it in there. Was a mighty struggle getting unit two past the mattress in the aisle. Logic assumes slat unit number two should drop right in, right? No. Turns out unit two is too wide. By an inch! The two slatted units, mated together, are an inch too wide for the platform. Aargh.

Pulled it out, went back to read Ron’s posting. So, he cut all the slats 7/8ths of an inch short. How did I miss that?